


Withering roses

by lostdarkstarwriter



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/F, elle is a murderer good for her, murder but make it bad men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-21 08:53:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30019251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostdarkstarwriter/pseuds/lostdarkstarwriter
Summary: After Elle's exit from the behavioral analysis unit she begins to spiral, she has made it her sole purpose to out smart the team that had once looked at her like she was someone else.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the characters. All rights are reserved to CBS.   
> Major content warnings for graphic depiction of violence

Chapter 1

The wind was blowing through her hair as she crossed her arms in front of her. Strands of brown hair tapped her cheeks before she closed the window of the musty apartment again. She wiped the edges of the window clean with water and soap before making her way over to the body that lay on the floor in the kitchen.

His injuries had been severe, but the medical examiner would probably end up stating that the bullet through his brains was what had inevitably killed him. The woman kicked the body softly with her boot, he had been a disgusting man. Deserved what had been his way to go.

The woman continued cleaning every surface that she had touched before packing up the tools she had used on the man. A few strands of her hair slipped out of the messy ponytail she was wearing, she pushed them behind her ear with her hand that was covered in blood spatters. 

‘’You got what you deserved Thomas’’ the woman said before standing up, she looked around the apartment one more time, making sure she had cleaned everything before placing her boot in the pool of blood and making a few footsteps that led to the front door. Her boot was two sizes bigger than her actual size, an attempt at throwing off the investigators.

She cleans her hands with a wet cloth from her bag as she closes the door behind her, she touches the elevator button with her elbow before pulling the hair tie out of her hair. Her long brown hair fell down to her back as she shook her head lightly.

The woman arrived at her own hotel a short walk later, she dropped her bag under the bed before changing into something more comfortable. She took a seat at the desk in her hotel room and pulled out the book she kept from the drawer.

She gently placed it on the desk and opened it to the first page. A news clipping from Jennifer Jareau as she spoke to the media about a case they were working on at the time. The woman gently tapped her finger on the newspaper clipping before flipping the page.

Her eyes landed on another picture of the BAU at the crime scene. It was Spencer Reid and some old guy the newspaper referred to as David Rossi. She had always adored Spencer, he had been like a younger brother to her. He had been the only one to see her, to actually see her. But it was already too late, and they had never spoken again.

She flipped a few more pages before she stopped at the newspaper clippings about the murders she was doing. It was only two clippings. The first was about how the BAU was called in and the second was about how the BAU had failed to protect the city because they still hadn’t caught the killer. 

And they wouldn’t, her training had taught her how to catch serial killers, but it had also made her impeccably good at being a serial killer. They hadn’t even figured out she was a woman yet. The killings were too brutal to have been done by a woman read one of the news clippings.

She had enjoyed watching the behavioral analysis unit struggle to connect the leads, she looked from afar as they entered the crime scenes. Each time the left the crime scenes, their complexions had been paler then when they entered. 

She had been watching them for years, when the worked, when they were at home. She knew everything about them. The woman knew how Aaron Hotchner cried at night as he nursed a whisky he didn’t actually like. She knew how Jennifer Jareau entered Emily Prentiss’ apartment at night because they were secretly having an affair. 

The woman knew how Derek Morgan picked up woman to fill the void of his loneliness, because his memories hit him when he was alone. She knew how Spencer Reid went to NA meetings at night, looking behind him with every step he took because he was scared he’d see someone he knew. 

She saw everything because they never saw her. 

She stood up and made her way to the bathroom where she splashed some water in her face. Elle Greenaway. It had been a name she hadn’t uttered in a while, but it was her name. However, she hardly ever introduced herself to anyone now a days. The name felt unfamiliar on her tongue as she said it out loud. Elle Greenaway.

Elle had been an agent at the behavioral analysis unit for a little over a year when the fisher king shot her, when he pushed his fingers in her wound and used the blood to write on her living room wall. 

She gently pulled up the hem of her shirt, caressing the scar it had left. A wave of memories hit her, but she pushed them away before dropping her shirt again. Elle returned to her desk and pulled out the list she kept folded in her desk. 

With a green marker he crossed of Thomas McAvoy’s name before looking to see who was supposedly next. Benjamin Jenkins was next on the list. A few women had spoken out about him assaulting them, but he was a rich white man, so the law enforcement and Benjamin’s lawyers silenced them with money.

But that wasn’t the solution for Elle. She had seen his victims spiral after their assault and she wanted to avenge these women. However, she needed to sleep first, she pulled of her robe, dropped it on the ground and crawled under the white blanket. 

**  
Her next day went by very fast and before she knew it she was putting up her hair in a high ponytail again. Her hand reached under the bed until she felt the hard leather of the bag she carried with her everywhere she went. 

She put on a few extra pairs of socks before slipping into the way too large boots, her hand reached for the small hotel supplied alcohol bottle. She however put it back down because she knew she needed to be level headed for this one.   
Elle locked her door behind her, the boots thumping on the carpet of the hotel hallway as she made her way to the exit. The fresh air hitting her in the face the second she pushed open the door.

The leather bag was heavy in her hand as she pushed the fake glasses a little further up her nose. She had memorized the directions to Benjamin Jenkins’ apartment and this would be the last murder she’d commit in the area before moving further away, making sure not to leave a trail.

Her fist landed on the door as she knocked a few times ‘’miss me?’’ she chuckled once Benjamin opened the door, ‘’I’m afraid I don’t know you’’ the man solemnly said.

‘’Your friend told me I should say that, that you’d like that’’ Elle whispered as she leaned forward, she arched her eyebrow slightly as she did.

‘’Oh, Oh..OH-‘’ Benjamin awkwardly stammered once he realized who she supposedly was, ‘’you must be Candice?’’ he asked as he stuck his hand out forward to reach for hers.

‘’Yes, exactly’’ chuckled Elle as she followed Benjamin inside, she cast one more glance behind her: to the street, before kicking the door closed behind her with her boot.

‘’Can I tempt you with a drink? I’ve lots to offer’’ Benjamin said once he led her through the living room to a small cart filled with different kinds of bottles. 

‘’Oh I’ve heard all about what you have to offer’’ chuckled Elle as she gently pulled on his tie, she could see in the way his breathing changed that he was aroused by her touch.

‘’But a scotch will do.. for now’’ she winked before leaning on the edge of the couch as she did, her eyes trailing from the top of his body to the bottom, already imagining where she was going to hurt him. Already imagining how he was going to scream as she did.

‘’A lady that likes scotch is my kind of lady’’ he laughed, he had a hollow laugh, the laugh of a man that has faked his laugh for years. ‘’It soothes the throat am I right?’’ Elle smiled, as she took the thin glass from Benjamin.

‘’So… how..uh-? long have you been doing this?’’ he asked tentatively as he sat down opposite of her, his grey hair pale against the color of the fire place behind him. She shuddered as she thought how it would feel to push him into the fire place.

‘’Longer than you’’ Elle chuckled dryly, her lips meeting the edge of the glass but the drink never touching her lips. She had done this long enough to never trust the drink offered by someone else.

‘’My friend told me you’re expensive but come with a high rating’’ Benjamin whispered, his breathing once again shuddered as he talked: indicating his arousal. ‘’I’m worth it, trust me’’ Elle replied before crossing her legs.

Elle leaned forward until her hand met the leather handle of the bag, ‘’do you want to play a game? Benjamin?’’ she asked as she pulled out a silk blindfold from her bag. 

Benjamin stuttered before nodding his head eagerly, she could feel his erratic breathing when she placed her slender hand on his chest. Elle gently tied the blindfold around his head before grabbing some rope from her bag,

‘’This will only pinch a little’’ Elle whispered in his ear, her lips gently caressing his earlobe as she did. In a swift moment she had his arms and legs tied together, Benjamin however still thought this was part of her game.

Elle ruffled in her bag with her free hand before pulling out a sharp surgical instrument, she used it to cut of the buttons from his blouse. Leaving him with a cut open blouse and a wine-red tie. 

She caressed her hand over his stomach, her body shuddered as she did before recomposing herself and gently placing the cold blade on his skin.

‘’Smile Benjamin’’ Elle whispered, ‘’because it’ll be the last time you can’’ she added before pushing the sharp knife into his stomach with as much force as she could possibly muster.

Slightly out of breath, she dropped the knife to the ground as she watched the man yelp out in pain, he tried to move but she has tied him too tightly.

He was still yelling when the knife touched his stomach for the seventh time, but when she had touched him for the eight time it seems as though life was slowly pouring out of him.

She sterilized the bloody knife as she listened to Benjamin beg for his life, she reached for the oil and lighter in her bag before making her way back over to him.

She poured the oil over his hands, over his stomach and over his legs before carefully igniting the lighter. 

Elle could still hear his screams in her head after she had cleaned up, even once she was in the shower back in the hotel, her hands massaging her scalp. As hard as she massaged: it didn’t stop the screaming she felt in her bones.

Elle climbed into the bed after her shower, her long wet brown hair cold in her neck as she let out a sigh she didn’t realize she was holding. She didn’t know when she started doing what she did, but she did realize that she had reached a point where she didn’t know how to stop.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own the characters. All rights reserved to CBS
> 
> content warning for gore

At the behavioral analysis unit in Quantico, Jennifer Jareau sat behind her desk with her hands in her hair. Another case had come in, a brutal torture case. It’s one of five murders they’ve flagged as a serial. 

‘’You okay, babe?’’ Emily inquired softly as she looked up, Emily Prentiss sat opposite of JJ, a large brown FBI folder in her right hand and a steaming mug of coffee in her left hand. 

JJ rubbed her fists in her eyes, smearing her mascara in the process before nodding her head slightly ‘’I’m fine, it’s just-… another case has been sent in. A different type of torture but the same size boot was found at the scene while the rest of the crime scene was wiped meticulously clean like the other four’’.

‘’Another one?’’ Emily let out an equally agitated sigh, ‘’this unsub is relentless’’. JJ nodded her head again before standing up slowly, ‘’guess we’re going back to the round table’’ she said as she watched the file print.

‘’Morgan will be thrilled about that one’’ chuckled Emily, a hollow tired chuckle. JJ held the file in her hand as she placed a gentle kiss on Emily’s forehead. ‘’let’s go honey’’ whispered JJ before motioning for Emily to follow her.

Spencer Reid sat at the roundtable, leaned over a complicated looking book, he didn’t even notice Emily coming in. ‘’You alright there?’’ Emily asked as she took a seat next to Spencer, pushing a cup of coffee in his direction as she did.

‘’Yes, I’m just reading up on a medieval torture method. It’s similar to the torture on one of our victims. But I feel like I’ve seen this method before’’ Spencer said, his finger passing the pages quickly.

‘’Like in a movie?’’ Emily asked, observing her younger coworker as he talked ‘’no, no-.. not a movie. I’m not sure yet, but I’ll find out’’ Spencer absentmindedly replied. 

‘’I hate to break up your reading process, but JJ is about to come in here with a new case’’ Emily smiled, and just as Spencer looked up the rest of the team followed JJ into the conference room.

‘’Benjamin Jenkins. Aged 46. He was tied up and brutally tortured in his own home. He died of third degree burns on most parts of his body’’ JJ said as she handed everyone the next file.

‘’AAH’’ screamed someone from the doorway, and all heads turned to see a pale Penelope Garcia eyeing the pictures on the board from the severely burned man. 

‘’Are they gone?’’ exclaimed Penelope as she hid her face with a large pink octopus’ mug. ‘’ Yeah, they’re gone’’ smiled JJ as she exchanged a glance with Derek, who was grinning as well. 

‘’That’s certainly not something you want to see moments after breakfast’’ Penelope said as her voice had returned to its usual cheeriness. 

‘’that’s why coffee is my breakfast’’ Emily dryly said, ‘’that explains your pessimism’’ chuckled Derek, his eyebrow slightly arched as he said it. ‘’Guess it explains this too’’ smirked Emily deviously as she put her middle finger up in the air. ‘’Very mature’’ sighed JJ before gently pushing Emily’s shoulders.

Hotch cleared his throat slightly ‘’let’s get back to the case now shall we?’’. Everyone turned their eyes back to the screen as JJ continued talking.

‘’I think we have found a connection between the other four murders. If you look at murder number three-‘’ said JJ as she showed them the picture of hands tied together, ‘’and murder number five-‘’ she continued as she showed them the picture of another pair of hands tied together.

‘’See the way the rope was tied around the wrist, thumb and middle finger. It’s a singular technique’’ JJ nodded. ‘’Another resemblance is the cuts on the stomach of victim number 5 and the cuts on the face of victim number 1. Both seemed to have been made by something extremely sharp’’ JJ explained.

‘’It seems as though these murders get more brutal by the second’’ David Rossi said, a frown very visible on his face. ‘’It doesn’t feel consistent. The torture is all over the place’’ Spencer pointed out, ‘’do you think it’s possible there are more murders?’’ Emily inquired.

‘’I think we need to revisit every torture case from the last 6 months’’ Spencer nodded, ‘’tortures in either hotels or homes and the victims need to be white and over 35’’ he added. 

The conference room immediately filled with the sound of Penelope typing furiously, trying to limit the parameters to a few hits. 

‘’So, this unsub’s MO is torturing white middle-aged men?’’ Derek asked as he wrote something down ‘’ I think he is’’ agreed Spencer. 

‘’But how are we so sure it’s a man?’’ Emily asked, knowing the answer before Spencer even started talking. ‘’statistically men are way more likely to use torture as a way of murder. These murders are too brutal to have been done by a woman’’ Spencer said.

‘’But aren’t we underestimating women by assuming these murders are too brutal?’’ Emily wondered out loud, ‘’well…statistically speaking women are just way more likely to poison their victims’’ Spencer shrugged.

‘’But women are very clean, they like to clean their house. It’s like a female trait. And the crime scenes are very clean, so that might indicate a female unsub?’’ David Rossi interjected.

‘’Sexist much?’’ exclaimed Emily annoyed, while JJ and Penelope backed her up instantly ‘’agreed, have you ever seen Emily’s apartment’’ JJ dryly said. Emily cast a frustrated glance in JJ’s direction.

‘’I don’t think having a clean crime scene is related to a female unsub. Because unlike Prentiss, my apartment is very clean’’ shrugged Derek, his pen tapping on his notepad as he smirked. 

‘’exceptions, exceptions’’ smiled Penelope dreamily before Hotch cleared his throat again. 

‘’Garcia, I need you to do a background check on Benjamin Jenkins. Reid, stay behind to work on the geographical profile. Prentiss and Morgan, I want you two to go to the crime scene. JJ, stay behind and try and help Garcia and Reid while managing the press. Rossi and I will go to the morgue’’ Hotch said, handing everyone their tasks. 

**

Penelope watched JJ and Spencer walk around the evidence board where a huge map with a few colored pins hung. ‘’Murder 2 and murder 5 were all in this city’’ Spencer said as he pushed the pins in.

‘’Murder 1 and murder 4 were in the town over’’ he continued, ‘’the third murder however was in a city 50 miles away’’ Spencer frowned.

JJ left Spencer alone as he intently worked on the profile, she leaned over Penelope’s shoulder as she followed the work she was doing. ‘’Anything on Benjamin yet?’’ JJ asked eventually, ‘’only boring stuff. He graduated in law and works at some big firm. He’s a corporate lawyer’’ Penelope shrugged.

‘’He divorced his wife when he was 36 and his wife passed away four years later of breast cancer’’ Penelope continued. ‘’Anything entertaining on his bank statements?’’ JJ inquired as she took a seat next to Penelope, sipping on her coffee as she did. 

‘’Yes actually, mysterious weekly payments to a bank account in Switzerland. It’s always the same amount $498’’ Penelope said, JJ sat up a little straighter ‘’that’s an odd number, very specific’’ JJ muttered as she scribbled something down.

‘’He also has a monthly prescription to www.mysexyladies.com. The man pays $70 a month to see…sexy ladies’’ Penelope continued, JJ snorted slightly ‘’could the mysterious amount be a prostitute?’’.

‘’Don’t most prostitutes get paid in cash?’’ Penelope inquired, ‘’not necessarily’’ piped Spencer in ‘’recent studies have shown that the high-end prostitutes and call girls prefer to get bank through a foreign bank instead of cash withdrawal because the foreign bank keeps their money safer away from their pimp’’.

‘’Okay, can you follow up that bank in Switzerland and the account owner, see if you can figure out who or what it’s meant for’’ JJ suggested as she made her way over towards the board where she wrote the word prostitute with a question mark.

A thirty-minute car ride away was the crime scene where Emily Prentiss stood, leaned over the bloodied chair. ‘’What was the time of death?’’ Emily asked as she pinched her nose slightly, the smell of burned flesh still hung in the air. 

‘’coroner said around 3 AM’’ Derek called out from the kitchen, ‘’are we sure the burning is what killed him? Because there’s so much blood?’’ Emily asked surprised as she walked around a huge splatter of blood on the ground. ‘’ Yes, they’re sure. They found traces of smoke in his lungs, so he had to have been alive when he was burned’’.

‘’ Imagine how hard he must’ve been screaming; how did the neighbors not hear anything?’’ Emily asked bewildered, ‘’I spoke to Miss Letty from next door and she told me it wasn’t unlike him to be screaming in the middle of the night, she once called the cops. but it turned out he was experimenting in the bedroom so that’s why she didn’t call the cops’’ Derek explained. 

‘’Do we know if he had a permanent sexual partner? Or did he have multiple?’’ Emily inquired as she made her way up the stairs, followed by Derek. ‘’Probably multiple, Garcia just texted me that they found weird bank withdrawals and they suspect it’s for a high-end call girl service’’.

‘’Hopefully Garcia finds something on the cash withdrawals, so we can figure out if he had someone over last night, that’ll get us closer to the killer’’ Emily said as she pushed the bedroom door open.

‘’The party didn’t make it to the bedroom’’ Derek said as he gently wiped his gloved-up hand over the freshly pressed clean sheets on the bed, ‘’did you really just refer to a murder as a party?’’ Emily dryly asked, her eyebrow arched as she tried to hide her smirk.

‘’Yes, I figured calling it a party might make this god-awful smell leave my nose’’ groaned Derek, the smell of the burning flesh had reached the upstairs area too and both agents were eager for some fresh air.

‘’Let’s get out of here, we won’t get any more from here’’ Emily shrugged as they made their way down the stairs and straight to the front door, but Derek grabbed her elbow roughly before she could open the door. 

‘’What did you do that for?’’ Emily exclaimed as she rubbed her elbow, an angry glare directed at Derek. ‘’There…. A hair. Too light to be yours, too long to be his. And no other women have come through the apartment since before the murder’’ Derek said.

‘’Are you sure none of the crime scene techs had long hair?’’ Emily inquired, but Derek shook his head ‘’let’s bag it’’.

‘’So, you do think it could be a woman?’’ Emily pointed out once they finally gulped in the fresh air outside, ‘’not necessarily, I still stand by the fact that this was too gruesome to be done by a woman. But a long hair that isn’t ours needs to be checked anyway. She might know something’’ shrugged Derek as she got into the black SUV.

‘’I don’t know Derek, I think it may be a woman’’.


End file.
